Published Poem – Ivor.Plumber/Poet

Coffee House Writers Magazine features my new poem, “A Global Suntan”

Hello, dear readers and followers. I contribute to Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) every second week, and I’m delighted to share that my latest poem, “A Global Suntan,” appears in the new issue. You can read it by following the link below.
>> A Global Suntan – Coffee House Writers

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.

Ivor Steven © July 2026

Coffee House Writers Magazine features my new poem, “Uluru, Kakadu, Kathmandu, and Xanadu”

Hello, dear readers and followers. I contribute to Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) every second week, and I’m delighted to share that my latest poem, “Uluru, Kakadu, Kathmandu, and Xanadu,” appears in the new issue. You can read it by following the link below.
>> Uluru, Kakadu, Kathmandu, and Xanadu – Coffee House Writers

The journey begins — a lone bird rising through the misty avenue.

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.

Ivor Steven © July 2026

Coffee House Writers Magazine features my new poem, “Is My Horizon Unreachable?”

Hello, dear readers and followers. I contribute to Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) every second week, and I’m delighted to share that my latest poem, “Is My Horizon Unreachable?” appears in the new issue. You can read it by following the link below.
>> Is My Horizon Unreachable? – Coffee House Writers

Some moments arrive with a kind of stillness that asks you to look a little longer. Today, the sky was crossed with dark, wiry lines and the slow sweep of wings, each moment carrying its own quiet message. As I followed those shapes toward the brightening horizon, a poem began to form — unplanned, but insistent — rising out of the light which was beyond my reach.

Beyond the last pylon, let the music carry you the rest of the way toward that unreachable light.

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.

Ivor Steven © July 2026

Four Short Poems

I am extremely proud and humbled by the acceptance of four of my poems by the amazing Susi Bocks, Editor‑in‑Chief at The Short of It. They are “hot off the press” and released for publication today.

A sky full of turning light — a fitting doorway into my four poems published today on The Short of It.
>> Ivor Steven – I Write Her

Jeremy Thomas – Unsplash.com

Two quiet moments from my own walks — small reminders of how light and flight keep finding their way into my words.

Ivor Steven

PUBLISHED ON June 26, 2026

Scaling Time

Beyond time
Is there another world to find?
When time returns
Will there be a different mountain to climb?

Inside out

Fortresses and walls.
Inside, we cringe and crawl.

Outside, we see only winter and fall.
Beyond the bricks -who heeds our call?

The Writers

Tired eyes lose sight
Ink flows at night

But still they write
Ink becomes their light

A Moment In Time

Between the descending sun,
And the hessian horizon,
There is a shimmering twilight zone —
Instinctively waiting at the bottom
Of the doorway’s causeway,
For that designated time
When every definitive moment
Emerges into a second.

And now, let the light carry these moments a little further — inside it all, the music finds the same quiet pulse that shaped these poems

Ivor Steven © June 2026

Coffee House Writers Magazine features my new poem, “Living in the Shade.”

Hello, dear readers and followers. I contribute to Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) every second week, and I’m delighted to share that my latest poem, “Living in the Shade,” appears in the new issue. You can read it by following the link below.

>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/living-in-the-shade/

This week’s piece was shaped quietly at my café table, with late‑day light drifting across the floor and Portugal. The Man’s live performance of “Shade” echoing through my headphones — a fitting companion for a poem about those left waiting in the dimmer corners of our world.

Let this song cast its own soft light across the shadows we carry.

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.

Ivor Steven © June 2026

“Between the Moon and Clouds” is up at Spillwords Magazine

Only posted on my site on June 1st, submitted the next day, and published yesterday — a beautifully swift and heartening response from Spillwords.

I’m absolutely ecstatic to share that my poem “Between the Moon and Clouds” has been accepted and published in Spillwords Magazine this week. My heartfelt thanks to editor Dagmara for selecting my piece — her support means the world.

You can read the poem on Spillwords by clicking the link below, and if you feel moved to, you’re welcome to leave a 💗 for the article:

>> https://spillwords.com/between-the-moon-and-clouds/

Please note: the featured image above was kindly supplied by Spillwords Press.

Between the Moon and Clouds

written by: Ivor Steven

They say the world is changing,
but the moon cannot stop frowning,
while nature is unerringly hurting,
beneath our fettered feet.

Between the worried moon
and the settling clouds,
I perceive a loud rumbling sigh
from beyond the deep blue sky.

In one ferocious breath, Thor decries,
“Beware of the ground’s ringleader’s lies
about the Earth’s visible demise,
and hear the crust’s cries
with your own eyes.

Ivor Steven

Ivor Steven was formerly an Industrial Chemist, then a Plumber, now retired. He has had numerous poems published in anthologies and online magazines. He has 2 self-published books, “Tullawalla” and “Perceptions,” and is an active member of the Geelong Writers Inc. (Australia) and an appointed writer for “Coffee House Writers” magazine (USA).

Just days after first sharing these thoughts on June 1st — born in that quiet space between day and night — Spillwords welcomed the poem into their pages with a wonderfully swift response

Ivor Steven © June 2026

Coffee House Writers Magazine features my new poem, “Climbing Time.”

Featured Image Above: The image is a photomontage of a dim, muted horizon, and a crow flying above the horizon (which is the glued-on piece)

Hello, dear readers and followers. I contribute to Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) every second week, and I’m delighted to share that my latest poem, “Climbing Time,” appears in the new issue. You can read it by following the link below.
>> Climbing Time – Coffee House Writers

The day’s soft edges — a wavering line, a lingering bird, a fallen quill — all found their way into the poem.

Somewhere beneath the melody, the climb keeps unfolding.

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.

Haiku for Soulmates in the Museum of Modern Japanese Literature

Haiku from around the world now resting in Japan’s premier literary museum — a milestone worth celebrating.

This morning brought extraordinary news from Gabriela Marie Milton of Literary Revelations Press — news worth celebrating.
Learn more about Literary Revelations Press: >> https://literaryrevelations.com

The Museum of Modern Japanese Literature in Tokyo has officially accepted four Literary Revelations anthologies into its permanent collection:

Petals of Haiku
Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku
Haiku and Tanka: Lull, Harmony and Power of Japanese Art
Haiku for Soulmates

Thanks to a thoughtful presentation by Literary Revelations’ Artist in Residence, Hikari, the museum recognised the depth and authenticity of these global haiku voices. Their decision reflects a growing appreciation for international expressions of Japanese poetic forms.

For Gabriela, for Hikari, and for every contributor, this is a moment of genuine pride. These books will now rest in Japan’s premier literary institution — preserved for future scholars, poets, and readers.

As a contributor to both Tranquility and Haiku for Soulmates, I’m deeply honoured to be part of this moment.

Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku

Let the music settle softly over the moment — a quiet echo of everything worth celebrating.

Throwback Friday, Bird on a Ladder

In keeping with this week’s ‘Bird’ theme, today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in May 2023) is drawn from my third book, Until Eyes Hear Sound. It appears as a poem in Chapter 1: Little Creatures and the Birds

Bird on a Ladder

I am a blackbird on a circus ladder
Singing about how the world is feeling sadder
Or should I sing, “becoming madder”

Here on the last rung, I stand
Below, I see a treeless land
Above, I hear a breathless sky
After the show, I untangle my necktie
And I ask you why
“Does it matter, when I leap, what route do I fly?”

“Let the music spin the world’s madness into something we can still sing about

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.

Coffee House Writers Magazine features my new poem, “I’m Quietly Flying Around.”

Hello, dear readers and followers. I contribute to Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) every second week, and I’m delighted to share that my latest poem, “I’m Quietly Flying Around,” appears in the new issue. You can read it by following the link below.
>> I’m Quietly Flying Around – Coffee House Writers